


Toms first

by IWantthecas



Series: Toms Adventures [3]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: First adventures, Funny, new experiences
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:40:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28985751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IWantthecas/pseuds/IWantthecas
Summary: A series of short stories that includes Toms first time doing anything.
Series: Toms Adventures [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1668025





	1. Meeting with Dr weir

His first meeting with Dr weir had been a little nerve wracking. Tom didn’t know what to expect. He’d met the woman a few times but he’d never actually had time alone with her. Sheppard had brought him to her office and told Tom that he had work to do and he’ll see him after his meeting. Tom had thought Sheppard was gonna stay with him. He waited for Dr weir to invite him in and sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk. Tom is so small he’s feet were no where near the ground.

“Hello Tom. There’s no need to be nervous. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Kay.”

“I just want to get to know you better so we can be friends kind of like the friendship you have with Sheppard.”

“Frens.”

“Yeah. I know you’ve had a rough life so far and I want to make sure that we can make you as comfortable and welcome as possible.”

“Kay?”

“So. How has you’re day been so far? Has Sheppard shown you any of the movies on base yet?”

“Movies?”

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“Play cars”

“The remote controlled ones or the small ones in the floor?”

“Ones on floor”

“That sounds like fun. Do you like the cars?”

“Yea”

“Maybe we can get you some more toys to play with.”

“Toys?”

“That’s what the cars are they are toys for you to play with and have fun.”

“Oh”

“We have toys you can build with and ones you can pretend to fly. We have soft ones you can sleep with.”

“Sleep toys?”

“Yes they are called stuffed animals. They can look like any animal on our home world”

“I see them?”

“The animals or the toys?”

“Yes”

Elizabeth laughs. “I can see about getting you some animal books so you can see some of the animals on our planet but it might take a little while ok?”

“Oh... ok.”

“I wish I could make those shipments come faster but the Daedalus only moves so fast and our home world is so far away.”

“I see it?”

“You want to see earth?”

Tom nods.

“I don’t have any pictures.... I’ll see if I can find you some pictures of earth that I can show you next time we are together does that sound good?”

“Kay”

“I have a feeling you are going to like the dogs of my world. They look similar to you except they don’t have spikes and their tails are shorter.”

Tom tries to imagine such a creature.They look weird in his mind. No spikes short tails long teeth. Are all the teeth long or just the ones that Tom has?

“Cats are very similar but the are smaller and tend to be a little bit meaner.”

Small mean creatures? Tom needs to see these animals. He needs to meet them.

“Tom?”

Tom looks at weir “sorry was tryin imagine...”

“Oh. Well I’ll see about those animal books and some other stuff so you can learn about the animals of earth if you’d like.”

Tom nods “yes peez”

“Ok. In the meantime I have to get back to work and I’m sure you want to go get lunch with Sheppard?”

Tom turns to see Sheppard at the door. “Ok” he climbs off his chair and heads to Sheppard. 

“Hey bud how was the meeting?”

“We talk bout toys an aminals. What’s a movie?”

Sheppard leads Tom to the cafeteria. Where they continue to talk about toys and animals and movies. His meetings with weir after that were nothing for Tom to fear he started looking forward to them and how much he can learn from her.


	2. Time in the bath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom stinks. He needs a bath. But does he even like baths?

Toms first bath 

Was an adventure. Sheppard knew it was gonna be a problem. Tom was starting to stink and people were noticing. Sheppard didn’t know if Tom liked baths he didn’t know how Tom felt about the water. Sheppard had convinced Tom to go into the bathroom with him but the dog creature was very suspicious. He kept looking at Sheppard as if John was trying to play a trick on him. Sheppard threw the toy in his hand into the tub. Tom watched it go in and looked at Sheppard. 

“Go get it!”

Tom sniffs toward the tub and looks at Sheppard. 

“I’m not getting the toy if you want it you go get it.”

Tom walks toward the tub slowly. He sniffs the air and keeps an eye on Sheppard. Tom puts his paws on the edge of the tub. Sheppard closes the bathroom door effectively locking himself and Tom in the bathroom. Tom runs for the door only to realize he’s trapped. Tom cries. Sheppard pets his head. 

“It’s ok Tom. It’s ok bud. It’s just a bath.”

Tom looks at Sheppard.  _ Did he say bath? Does that mean I play in water? I like those times! _ Tom looks at the tub then at Sheppard.

“Yea Tom it’s a bath.”

Tom jumps into the tub but Sheppard hasn’t added the water yet. He looks at Sheppard disappointed. 

“You want the water? You like baths?”

Tom yips. Sheppard turns on the faucet and adds the water. Tom watches the water fall from the faucet. He drinks some straight from the tap and watches the tub fill.Tom splashes in the water and rolls in it. The tub is huge. Sheppard and Tom could easily lay side by side and still have room for another person to join them. 

Tom looks at Sheppard excitedly. Sheppard smiles. Ok bath time is gonna be easy.... maybe. Tom is excited and playful. Sheppard has to remind him to be calm several times so he can lather him in soap.

Sheppard expected to give Tom a bath he even expected to get a little wet which is why he wore his swim trunks. What Sheppard didn’t expect was Tom giving him a bath. They were playing with Toms tug toy. Tom somehow had grip in the tub and he pulled Sheppard off balance. Next thing Sheppard knows he’s in the tub with Tom and Tom is rubbing his head against his head.Tom licked Sheppards head. Sheppard struggled against Tom laughing. 

“Hey! I didn’t need a bath! I wasn’t the stinky one here! I showered this morning! Tom! Hahahahahaha”

Tom yips and keeps trying to clean Sheppard. John struggles laughing the whole time. 

“Ok. Ok. Bath time is over. Grab your toys I’ll go get us some towels.”

Sheppard climbs out of the tub. So much for only Tom bathing. Sheppard pulls the plug and Tom hops out of the tub. Tom shakes off the water efficiently getting everything wet.Sheppard sighs knowing he’s gonna have to clean that up later. Sheppard towel dries Tom as much as possible. Tom watches Sheppard wondering why he’s doing that.

Sheppard learned Tom loves baths. He also learned he needs to close the bathroom door or risk finding Tom in the tub begging for a bath and refusing to leave until he gets one. Sheppard thinks to himself  _ what did I get myself into?!?! Why do I love it???  _


	3. Visit to earth (part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom has no choice the IOA wants to meet him. They want to make sure he’s not a threat . (This is part one because there’s more to the chapter. Tom is on earth with Sheppard for a a week or so due to waiting for the Daedalus.)

Tom had to visit earth. The powers that be needed to ensure he was not a threat. Tom was not afraid of gate travel. However he had never been outside of the Pegasus galaxy. He didn’t mind the earthlings he knew but the way they seemed to react about Tom having to visit earth made Tom nervous. Sheppard seemed upset. Weir tried to tell him it would be ok. Rodney seemed nervous.

Tom was not going alone. Sheppard wouldn’t allow it. Sheppard was going with him. The rest of the team was staying on Atlantis. Tom almost wished they’d all go together. But the people at the SGC didn’t want the whole team they barely allowed Sheppard. They wanted him in human form. 

When he stepped through the gate and made it to earth he was immediately intimidated. Toms first instinct was to hide behind Sheppard. Which he did. Tom grabbed Sheppards leg and hid behind him. Tom knew Atlantis had a group of soldiers that stood guard at the gate in case of hostiles he didn’t know earth did too. And it looked like there were a lot more people than on Atlantis.

Tom was suddenly very nervous and shy. He stayed behind Sheppard and very close to him. The guns were lowered and Tom still stayed by Sheppard. Landry was at the bottom of the ramp. Sheppard started forward with Tom clinging to his leg. Tom cautiously looks around while they walk forward. Once at the bottom of the ramp Tom notices the man standing in front of Sheppard.

“Colonel Sheppard.”

“General Landry sir.”

“This must be the boy in your reports”

“Yea this is Tom. He’s normally not this shy though.”

Tom looks at Landry sniffing the air. Even in his human form Toms senses are stronger then that of a human. Landry doesn’t smell dangerous. He smells like a man in charge. Landry watches Tom for a moment. 

“Let’s get you settled in. We will have our meeting in the morning.”

“Yes sir.”

Sheppard and Tom follow Landry out of the gate room. Tom looks around. He sniffs as much as he can while clinging onto Sheppards leg. This place is so different compared to Atlantis. It seems colder. They get led to a room thats gonna be their quarters while they stay on earth. Tom explores the room.It’s big enough for the both of them but ultimately it’s just a room. 

“I was told he shares a bed with you”

“He does sir.”

“If you need anything don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Yes sir.”

Tom jumps onto the bed. It’s not very bouncy. Landry watches Tom as he tests the bed.Sheppard puts their bags on the floor and watches Tom for a minute.

“Tom are you gonna play on the bed all evening?”

Tom looks at Sheppard. He smiles and goes over to Sheppard.

“Food?”

“Are you hungry bud?”

“Yea.”

Sheppard leads Tom to the mess hall. It’s not as big and fancy as the one in Atlantis. Tom looks around he stays close to Sheppards side. There’s a lot of people he doesn’t know and it’s making him a little nervous. Sheppard seems to be calm about it. That calms Toms nerves a little bit he’s still apprehensive. Once Sheppard fills their plates he finds them a table in a back corner knowing it’ll help Tom calm down a little more. Tom faces the room he’d rather be able to see everything. 

“You know your gonna have to get over this shy thing you have going Tom.”

“Why?”

“Because you need to talk to Landry.”

“Why?”

“It’s an interview Tom you have to talk.”

“Why?”

“Because you have to answer questions.”

“Don’t want to.”

“It doesn’t matter what you want Tom”

“Why?”

“Do you like Atlantis?”

“Yea.”

“Do you like being part of my team?”

“Yea.”

“You have to answer questions so you can stay a part of my team.”

“Why?”

“It’s what our government wants”

“Oh hey Sam.”

“John. Who’s the kid?”

“His name is Tom. My team and I found him on one of our missions.... although at the time he wasn’t a kid.”

“Wasn’t a kid?”

“He was a dog creature thing.”

“What?”

“Tom can switch from human to dog creature.”

“How is that possible?”

“I dunno but he’s not gonna be a lab rat.”

“No yea no I get it. I don’t want to make him one but that’s intriguing.”

“No questions”

“You have to Tom”

“No”

“Tom. The questions are just so they can get to know you.”

“No questions”

“No questions today but what about tomorrow?”

“Maybe”

“I’ll take that.”

“Hey what if I promised you something if you answer questions for me tomorrow?”

“Promise?”

“Yea like if you answer questions I’ll buy you something.”

“Like what?”

“What do you like?”

“He had a meeting with Dr weir and she told him about all kinds of toys and books and animals.”

“Do you like animals Tom?”

“Dunno what is?”

“He can’t stop talking about wanting to see them.”

“Should we take him to a zoo? We can bring Cassandra.”

“Zoo?”

“It’s a place that has a lot of animals that live on our world.”

“Let’s go!”

“We can’t today the animals are already asleep but if you answer questions tomorrow we might be able to go tomorrow or the day after.”

“But I wanna go now.”

“I promise you it’ll be worth the wait.”

“Oh.”

Tom finishes his dinner and follows Sheppard back to their room. Tom starts looking for stuff to do. Sheppard knows they don’t have anything with them to keep Tom occupied so he turns on the tv. Tom pauses and looks at the screen. What the hell is this thing? He joins Sheppard on the bed and watches the screen. Soon Tom is fast asleep and Sheppard sighs. Why has he never thought to put a movie on for Tom to fall asleep to before?

The next morning has Tom up and all over the place. He’s a ball of nervous energy. Sheppard takes him to breakfast. There’s hardly any people in the mess hall which helps Tom immensely. Tom inhales his breakfast. Sheppard knows Tom is nervous. He’s tried to reassure him multiple times already. 

After breakfast Sheppard leads Tom to the briefing room. Landry is there with a couple of people from the IOA and one or two top military personal. Tom pauses at the door. Sheppard gives Tom a light push to get him moving again. Tom enters the room. He looks around unsure of what to do. There is an empty chair at one end of the table with a camera pointed at it. Sheppard picks Tom up and puts him in the chair. Tom is frozen with fear. Sheppard sits in the chair closest to Tom.

“Ok now that everyone is here we can start this meeting.”

Tom stays as still as possible. Sam is one of the people in the room. He notices her and starts to relax a little. He met Landry yesterday too. There’s two people that aren’t Sheppard that he knows. The rest of the room he doesn’t. Tom closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. It’s ok he tells himself. He looks at the people at the table. 

“Tom is it?” Tom nods “we brought you here so we can meet the young man that wants to join Sheppards team. Now as I understand it you have the ability to turn into a dog like creature. Is that true?”

Tom nods.

“May we see it?”

“Need to get nakey”

“What?”

“He needs to be naked to become the creature.”

“I was not aware of that.”

“We tried to see if he could turn with his clothes on and the answer is yes but the creature is bigger than him in some ways and his clothes end up ripping.”

“Is the creature dangerous?”

“No. I control”

“You control him?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“We is one”

“So you can communicate with the creature?”

“No? He no talks. Can’t talk when turn”

Tom notices that every seems to be writing something. They all started when Tom first responded. 

“Do you know what he looks like?”

“He’s doglike....”

“Not you Sheppard”

“He has 4 paws. Nose. Tail. Teeth. Spikes.”

“Spikes?”

“Yes.”

“Sheppard?”

“He’s doglike. With a long whip like tail and spikes that run from the base of his head to the base of his tail. He’s got saber teeth.”

“Saber teeth?”

“Yes”

“Tom can we see the creature?”

Tom pushes the chair away from the table and climbs down. He strips his clothes and changes forms. The people in the room jump back. Before them stands a doglike creature. Just like Sheppard described. His fur is so dark it looks black. The spikes have a bluish hue. Tom sits looking at them with a curious look. Sheppard makes sure they get video of Tom in his doglike form. 

“Ok Tom you can be human again.” 

Tom nods and turns human. He gets dressed and climbs back into his chair.

“Good?”

“Yes we are good now you don’t need to do that again.”

“Kay.”

The meeting goes on for a few hours. Tom gets bored of answering questions but he persists. He glances at Sheppard or Sam every once in a while to make sure he’s doing good. By noon the meeting is done. Toms stomach is growling and he’s getting a little hangry. Sheppard makes sure to take Tom straight to the mess hall and piles Toms tray and finding him a seat before going back for his own. Sam joins them for lunch along with one of the men from the meeting. 

Tom stares at the man hardly touching his food despite how hungry he is. Sheppard returns to the table with his own tray and looks at Tom.

“Tom. Eat.”

Tom doesn’t acknowledge Sheppard. Sam looks at Tom. 

“Sir I think he wants to know who you are.”

The strange man looks at Tom. 

“Hi.”

Tom doesn’t respond.

“Not much for small talk are you? I’m General O’Neill. But you can call me Jack.”

Tom sniffs in his direction.

“Do I smell? I showered this morning.”

“Sorry sir Tom is not normally this rude. He’s half dog creature he tends to act more animal than human. He’s just getting your scent. So the next time he meets you he knows who you are.”

“Right.”

“He doesn’t do the dog thing of burying his nose in your crotch does he?”

“No sir. He’s more polite then that. He can catch your scent sitting across from you like he is. He’s been shy since we got to earth which is unusual for him but I think it’s because he’s nervous.”

Tom starts eating his food keeping an eye on O’Neill. He looks at Sheppard and holds a silent conversation with him. Sam and Jack watch them. Tom eventually looks down at his food as if disappointed with the answers he got.

“He was wondering about the zoo.”

“The zoo?”

“We promised him he could go if he behaved and answered questions at the meeting. What I didn’t expect was for us to have to stay on base for the rest of the day so we could get the results of the meeting.”

“It’s ok Tom, we can go tomorrow and that way you would have all day to look at the animals and we can take our time instead of rushing through the zoo”

Tom nods sadly. 

“I know you want to go today but I brought something I think you might like. It’s in your quarters waiting for you. You can see it after lunch ok?”

Tom looks at her. A surprise! He starts inhaling his food. 

“Whoa easy tiger you don’t want to get sick.”

“He does that all the time when he’s excited for something. Or nervous.”

“He inhaled his breakfast too?”

“Oh yea. But right now he’s excited for his surprise.”

Tom finishes his food and starts trying to eat some of Sheppards so he’d hurry up and be done too.

“Tom! Enough!”

Tom sits and whines.

“You need to be patient.”

Tom folds his arms and huffs.

“Yea yea take it up with the complaint department.”

Tom sits impatiently waiting. 

“Is he always like that?”

“He’s usually so well behaved I don’t know what’s gotten into him. He’s always polite and calm and sometimes over talkative. But since we got to earth he’s become the opposite. I can’t figure out what’s wrong.”

“It’s a new place. New people. He only knows you. It’s scary for him I’d imagine. He’s trying to cope the best he can. He doesn’t know what to expect.”

“That’s true but I don’t think his behavior should change that much. I get him being shy and nervous but misbehaving?”

“Testing boundaries?”

“Maybe it’s something in the air”

“What do you mean?”

“Tom is used to Atlantis. He’s never been to the SGC.”

“He can’t hear the ocean. The walls are concrete. There’s no sunlight and open windows.”

“It’s making him antsy and he’s misbehaving as a result. Oh god your right.”

Tom looks around the room. He looks at his empty tray and debates on more food. He wants whatever the blue stuff is that Sam has on her plate. It’s smells sweet. Tom looks around the counter looking for it. He spots it and looks at Sheppard. Sheppard is busy talking. Tom looks at the blue stuff again. He debates on trying to steal Sam’s but he knows he’ll get yelled at. The problem is the counter is too high. And Tom doesn’t want to deal with the people. 

The blue stuff is tempting though... Tom keeps eyeing it. He looks at the adults but they are all talking. Sam is still eating off her plate while she talks. Tom decides to try to get some from the counter. There isn’t a lot of people that are walking around. But there’s a lot of people in the room. Tom goes to the counter anyway. He’s so short he can’t even see the top of the counter. He grabs the edge and pulls himself up. 

What Tom doesn’t know is he’s being watched. Not by Sheppard or the others but by someone else. Tom pulls himself up enough he can see the blue stuff. He balances himself on the edge of the counter with it digging into his stomach and reaches for the blue stuff. He’s so close. He can almost reach it. Just a little further! Tom stretches as far as he can. He manages to barely grab the edge of one of the cups and pull it closer. 

The problem is Tom wasn’t thinking about how to get down. He tries to back out off the counter and ends up falling. He hits the ground hard knocking the air out of himself. He lays on his back for a minute trying to catch his breath. The blue jello ended up everywhere. When he catches his breath again he looks at the mess and shakes his head. He grabs the empty cup and throws it away. Tom goes back to the table feeling defeated.

“Well that was quite a show.”

Tom yelps and backs away from the new comer. He backs as far into his chair as it allows. 

“What did Tom do now?”

The new comer puts a cup of blue jello in front of Tom. 

“I believe this is what you wanted.”

Tom looks at the jello then at the man. “Uh.... thanks.”

“Jello?”

“He tried to get some just now and failed. I’ll bet that knocked the wind from you didn’t it?”

Tom nods.

“I’m Daniel and you are?”

“Name Tom”

“Nice to meet you Tom. Hey next time you want jello don’t be afraid to ask.”

Tom nods. He looks at the jello and sniffs it. Yup it’s the same stuff Sam has. He digs in. Daniel leaves to go do his work.

“Tom what did you do?”

Tom looks at Sheppard sheepishly.

“What did you do?”

“Wanted blue”

“And?”

“Tried get it”

“You tried to get the jello?”

Tom nods.

“Then what happened?”

“Fell. Blue everywhere.”

“You fell? Are you ok?”

Tom nods. 

“Tom you could have asked.”

“You was talkin”

“Was the jello at least worth the fall?”

Tom nods taking another bite of it. “Sweet”

“Well yea jello is mostly sugar. Oh great your gonna be sugar high.”

“There’s a park not to far from here we can take him there and let him work the sugar out of his system.”

“We might have to. Tom is destructive when he’s bored.”

“He destroys things?”

“He chews”

“Oh. Oh!”

“Yea we don’t want him destroying his surprise”

“So park after lunch it is.”

“This kid is gonna be the death of me. He’s so unpredictable sometimes.”

“He’s a kid. You can’t always tell what crosses their minds. And they tend to surprise you.”


	4. Visit to The park (part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They visit the park and Tom gets into trouble. (Bit of warning Tom gets bullied and the kids through around the word “retard”. Sorry I know it’s dated and derogatory)

After lunch they go to the park. Tom doesn’t know where to look there’s soooo much information his brain is trying to process. So many new scents and sounds and sights. He can hear kids playing but he can also hear squirrels. Even though he doesn’t know what squirrels are. And birds. He can smell people, and cars, the trees, other dogs, squirrels, birds, stray cats and so much more. It’s a wonder Tom doesn’t go into sense overload. Maybe the sugar is helping. Tom looks at Sheppard for guidance. 

“Go play Tom.”

“How?”

“He doesn’t know how to play?”

“He isn’t used to a playground Sir. Pegasus galaxy doesn’t have play grounds.”

“Go do what the other kids are doing.”

Tom watches the other kids for a minute. He goes to the playground and follows some kids to the top. What he doesn’t know is he just followed the bullies. When he gets to the top the biggest kid confronts Tom.

“Hey! You aren’t allowed up here this is my castle.”

“Is just playin”

“What’s wrong with your speech? Are you retarded?”

“No. I no speak English.”

“Well your in America so you better learn it.”

“I play now?”

“No go away”

“But I want play here”

The kid walks up to Tom and gets in his face. 

“What part of ‘go away’ don’t you get?”

“I just want play”

“Too bad”

Tom tries to push past the kid. But the kid shoves Tom to the floor. Tom gets up and tries to get past him again only to be shoved to the floor again. 

“Get out of here retard!”

“I play here too!”

The kid goes to kick Tom. Tom catches his leg and twists causing the bigger kid to fall. His friends step up and grab Tom. They lift him to his feet and hold him in place. The bully gets off the floor and punches Tom. 

“Retard your gonna learn a lesson now!”

The kid hits Tom in the stomach several times. Sheppard and the others are talking and not paying Tom much attention. Tom is being held in place while the older kid hits him repeatedly. Tom is trying his best not to fight. He knows he can take these kids easily. But Sheppard told him fighting is bad unless absolutely necessary. Tom spits blood. This is starting to look like a situation in which Tom needs to fight. 

Tom growls. The other kids laugh at him. He uses the strength he has from his other half and manages to get his arms free. Tom swings at the bully. He barely misses and the other kids laugh at him. 

“That all you got pipsqueak?”

One of the kids grabs his arm again but Tom turns and punches him this time connecting with the kids jaw. The kid goes down holding his mouth. He turns to the other kid and punches him in the nose. The kid yells and runs away holding his bloody nose. Tom turns to the bully and walks toward him. The older kid backs up. He lands hard on his butt when he bumps into the step behind him. Tom keeps coming toward him. 

The other two kids ran off to their parents. The bully pisses himself. Tom grabs his shirt and lifts him to his feet. Tom growls at him this time causing the kid to cower. Sheppard notices Tom squared up to the bully at this point. And runs to the playground.

“TOM LET HIM GO!”

Tom looks at Sheppard. 

“Let him go now!”

Tom let’s the kid go and he scrambles away. 

“Get down here now!”

Tom looks for the exit. He’s never used the slide so he doesn’t realize he can go down it instead he finds the nearest stairs and goes to Sheppard. John grabs Tom roughly by the shirt and drags him away from the playground. Tom is terrified. He pees himself. Sheppard has never done this to him before. What Tom doesn’t know is Sheppard is doing it more as a show than anything else so the other parents don’t demand a more severe punishment. Sheppard pulls Tom well away from the playground. 

Sheppard finally stops dragging Tom when the make it almost to the car. Tom is thoroughly terrified at this point. He’s half expecting a beating. Sam and Jack are silent the whole time just following them. 

“Sheppard hear him out before you...”

“He’s my responsibility.”

“I know I’m just saying you don’t know the whole story.”

Tom is refusing to look at anything but the ground and he’s shaking like a leaf. He’s mentally preparing for the beating. 

“Tom. Look at me.”

Tom closes his eyes for a second. He’s not sure what’s about to happen.

“Tom. Please. Look at me.”

Tom hesitates. He slowly looks at Sheppard. Barely making eye contact before the water works start. He doesn’t wail. He doesn’t make a sound. But the tears are flowing freely. Sheppard takes in Toms appearance. He looks beat up. 

“Tom. Did those kids hit you?”

Tom nods. His silent tears still falling. Sheppard is outraged.

“Come on Tom”

Sheppard heads back toward the playground. Tom follows reluctantly. Sam and Jack follow also. Sheppard gets back to the playground and looks around. The bully and his mom are still at the park. The kid with the bloody nose and the kid with the bloody mouth are both being led straight to Sheppard with some angry looking mothers. The bullies mom is not far behind when she spots them.

“How dare your son hit my child!”

“Excuse me? My son was defending himself.”

“Yea right that little brat is a menace!”

“Tom come here show her your face.”

Tom does as he’s told. The bruise on his cheek starting to get darker.

“Good he deserves a good beating after what he did to my son.”

“Your son did that to him all three of them did!”

Tom takes his shirt off to reveal the rest of his bruises. His chest and stomach are starting to become a deep shade of black and blue. Sheppard hasn’t even seen those bruises yet.

“Your lucky I don’t press charges for what they did to him. Tom knows better than to pick a fight. You should teach your brats better.”

Tom stands there looking at the other kids.The parents are pissed and accusing Tom of everything. The bully realizes how small Tom actually looks and starts to feel guilty. He winces when he sees the damage he caused. He interrupts the adults.

“It’s my fault. I hit him first. He just wanted to play and I wouldn’t let him. I’m sorry I hit you.”

Tom is shocked for a second. He looks at the other kids. 

“I sorry”

“What are you sorry for? We bullied you. You just defended yourself.”

The adults are shocked into silence. Sheppard pets Toms head. 

“Come on Tom let’s go back to base.”

Tom follows Sheppard back to the car. Sam and Jack follow in silence. They head back to base. Tom stays silent in the backseat. Sheppard watches him. Tom just watches out the window. Sheppard wonders what’s going through Toms mind. Tom just wants to get home and sleep. His little mind is overwhelmed. 


	5. Book (part 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toms surprise waiting for him is a book he’s so excited.

They get back to base and Sam and Jack follow them to their quarters. Tom completely forgot he has a surprise waiting. So he’s confused as to why Sam and Jack are coming with them. Tom walks into the room and there waiting on the bed is a book. 

Tom looks at the book with curiosity. He can’t read but that doesn’t matter the book is a picture book but not just any picture book. It’s a big picture book full of animals from all over the world. Tom studies the cover. There’s a tiger at the forefront but there’s other animals on the cover too. Tom looks at Sheppard. 

“What is?”

“That’s a book Tom.” Sheppard comes and sits on the bed. “Those are animals from earth. This one here with the orange and black stripes is a tiger.”

Tom studies the tiger. Sam and Jack come over and look at the book too. 

“What do you think Tom? We can look for the tigers at the zoo tomorrow.”

“Yea!”

“That one with the big nose and big ears is an elephant. Those are my favorite.”

“Hey there’s Tom!”

“Where?”

Jack points to a monkey on the cover. 

“Das not me!”

“That’s a monkey. He does kinda look like you.”

“No!”

“It’s ok Tom he’s only joking.”

“Oh.”

“Tom sometimes has trouble realizing we are teasing him.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“It’s fine I just didn’t want him to end up getting mad enough to throw a punch. He’s done it before.”

“Oh.”

“That’s why I insisted on coming with him. Tom can be quick to anger. He’s adorable but his temper makes him deadly. And he’s learning to fight because he’s part of my team I’m not going to leave him defenseless.”

“Right.”

Tom opens the book and gasps. That tiger looks so real like it’s going to jump off the page! Sam smiles watching Tom. He’s so enthralled with the book. She knows Sheppard is gonna get annoyed with the book fast. He’ll probably have to read it to Tom a million times. For now though Tom is busy studying the pictures. He turns the page and finds a new animal. 

Tom studies the animal. Why does it have such a long neck? And long legs? Is it real? 

“Oh Tom that’s a giraffe. Those are really tall.”

“Zoo?”

“Yea I think our zoo has giraffes.”

Tom nods and studies the picture some more. 

“I think he likes the book.”

“I think so too.”

“I think he’s gonna get back to Atlantis and annoy everyone with his new found knowledge of animals.”

“I don’t think they would mind too much. He’s a cute kid.”

“Maybe not.”

“That book doesn’t have domestic animals in it does it?”

“No I don’t think so.”

“We’ll have to get him books about cats and dogs too then.”

“Right.”

“Not to many books his bag isn’t that big.”

“We can always get him another bag.”

“If I have to take a library back to Atlantis your coming with me to set it up.”

“A library of nothing but kids books I’m sure the scientists would love that.”

“Everyone can take turns reading to Tom.”

Tom gasps. They look at the book. Tom turned the page and found a rhino. 

“That’s a rhino Tom.”

“Mean?”

“No not exactly. They just look mean”

“Zoo?”

“Yea we’ll see them at the zoo”

Tom nods and turns the page. It’s the elephants. 

“Whoa.”

“Yea. They are bigger than the cover of the book made them seem huh?”

“Mean?”

“No these ones are super friendly. And the babies are super cute.”

“Zoo?”

“Yea they are at the zoo. I love watching them.”

Tom turns the page. He’s greeted by a snake. 

“That’s a snake Tom. You have to be careful with them. There’s so many different kinds and some of them are super dangerous.”

“Mean?”

“Depends on the kind but generally yea.”

“Should we get him a book on snakes?”

“It would let him see the different kinds there are.”

“Sure”

Tom turns the page. He screams and drops the book. Sheppard grabs the book.

“It’s ok Tom it’s just a picture. They can’t hurt you.”

Sheppard flips it back to the page they were on. 

“Oh. I see.”

“What?”

Sheppard turns the book to show the others. 

“That ostrich is scary looking.”

“Oh my.”

“Yea I’d have screamed too Tom.”

Tom nods. 

“Zoo?”

“I don’t think we have them at the zoo.”

“Good”

“Yea they are scary looking.”

Tom flips the page. 

“Oh those are cute looking but be careful bears are mean.”

“Attack?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Zoo?”

“Polar bears maybe but I don’t think we have Brown bears at the zoo.”

“Kinds?”

“Yea there’s a few different kinds.”

“I think you can see the polar bears later in this book actually.”

“Cool” Tom turns the next page. 

“Oh a spider. I hate spiders.”

“Spiders aren’t too bad.”

“Kinds?”

“Oh yea Tom lots of kinds. Some are dangerous some are not.”

“Zoo?”

“You don’t have to go to the zoo to see spiders. If you know where to look you can find them anywhere.”

“Oh?”

“Yea keep an eye out you might see them they like corners and dark spaces.”

“Ok”

Tom turns the page. There’s a weird looking creature not that the other creatures don’t look weird to him. But this one looks flat almost like it got run over. Even the back looks like it has the marks the tires on the cars leave. And it’s got crooked teeth. 

“Oh crocodiles”

“Are you sure that’s not an alligator?”

“Kinds?”

“Yea there’s different kinds.”

“And those are mean especially the salt water crocodiles”

“Zoo?”

“Yea our zoo has them.”

Tom keeps flipping through the book looking at all the animals. He eventually falls asleep with the book on his lap.


	6. Visiting the Zoo (Part 4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally Tom gets to go see all the creatures of earth! And he makes a new friend!

The next morning Tom was up extra early. To say he was excited was an understatement. Tom was practically bouncing off the walls. Sheppard had to remind Tom to calm down several times already. The mess hall wasn’t even open yet. Tom was flipping through the pages of his book looking at all the animals again. 

Sheppard couldn’t help but smile. This little boy who was so young had come into his life not more than six months ago. He has grown so much. Sheppard loves to watch him learn and get excited. He loves watching Toms little eyes light up and he can see the gears turning. 

Sheppard can’t believe how quickly he fell in love with the boy. He would do anything to protect him. Tom is so lovable. Yea he has some learning to do and he may have a bit of a temper problem but he’s trying. You can’t fault him for trying. Tom is studying the picture of the lions. He tries to imagine what they would look like in the wild. Where they would live. Sheppard explained to Tom about the different terrains of earth and how different animals love different areas. 

Tom insists on taking the book with them when they finally leave for the mess hall. Sheppard brings a backpack for Tom so he can carry extra snacks and water while they are at the zoo. It can’t hurt to be extra prepared. Sheppard knows Tom is going to insist on bringing the book to the zoo. So he convinces Tom to put the book in his backpack. They meet O’Neill and Carter in the mess hall. Janet is there with Cassandra as well. Tom sees Janet and Cassandra and hesitates. 

“It’s ok Tom. They are going to join us at the zoo. Cassie loves the animals too. She could probably teach you all about them.”

Tom goes and sits and sniffs toward Cassie and Janet. Sheppard puts Toms food in front of him. Tom watches Janet and Cassie while he eats.

“Is he ok?”

“He doesn’t know you so he’s trying to decide if he likes you.”

“Does he really do that?”

“Yea.”

“Hello Tom I’m Janet. This is Cassie. She loves going to the zoo too.”

Tom sniffs Janet’s offered hand. 

“Does he know how to shake hands?”

“No not exactly. Tom!”

Tom licks Janet’s hand.

“Oh!” She takes her hand back.

Tom looks at Sheppard. “You don’t lick people Tom that’s just weird.”

Tom shrugs and goes back to eating. Cassie tries to hide her laughter.

“He’s like a puppy isn’t he?”

“Who Tom?”

“Yea.”

“Well... Tom has a secret like you do but his secret is even bigger than yours.”

“What do you mean?”

“When we finish breakfast we should take you back to our room so we can finish packing and you can learn about Toms secret but only if you promise to keep it a secret.”

“I promise.”

“Good.”

They finish breakfast and head back to Sheppards room. Tom switches forms for Cassie and Janet to see. They are shocked Sheppard grabs the last of the items he needs and Tom becomes human and gets dressed. They head out and go to the zoo. 

“I wanted you to see that because it’s going to explain some of the weird behaviors your going to see Tom exhibit today.He has some weird habits and they can only be explained by the creature you saw.”

“Like licking people?”

“And sniffing everything.”

“I’m gonna need your help to remind him that he’s human. And he needs to act like it. Cassie I’m counting on you because he might stick by your side more than mine since I told him you love the animals and could probably teach him.”

“Ok.”

“If you don’t understand what he’s asking I might be able to translate for you. He doesn’t speak English very well but since he knows other languages I can always pretend that he’s adopted from another country like you are from Toronto.”

“Ok.”

“I know it’s a lot to put on your shoulders and I’m sorry I will do everything I can to help.”

“It’s ok.”

They get to the zoo and Tom tries to break in. They have to reel him in and have him stand in line so they can get in. Tom waits very impatiently. He wants to see the animals. He’s waited too long for this day. When they finally get their tickets and are able to get in Tom starts to run having no idea where he’s going. 

“Tom! Get back here!”

“Tom!”

“Tom! Where are you going?”

Cassie runs after him and brings him back to the adults. 

“But the aminals!”

“Tom do you even know where the first animals are?”

“No....”

“I should get a leash for him.”

“Don’t that’s mean.”

“He’s already tried to take off three times.”

“He’s enthusiastic.”

“He’s going to get us in trouble.”

They consult a map and head to the closest animal exhibit knowing Tom will explode if he doesn’t get to see animals soon. They get to the first exhibit. Tom is looking everywhere for the animal but he can’t find it. 

“Where is?!”

“It’s a bird Tom”

“Where?”

“Look up in the branches can you see him?”

Tom looks up and spots something moving.

“That’s him?”

“That’s him. He’s a falcon. They eat smaller animals like squirrels and chipmunks.”

“Oh.”

“Yea. Pretty cool huh.”

“He flies?”

“Yea he can fly but not in the cage.”

“Why?”

“It’s not big enough for him to fly he could get hurt.”

“Oh.”

“Let’s go see the next animal.”

Tom follows Cassie. She leads him to the next exhibit. Tom looks around and spots the big cat laying lazily on the platform. 

“What is?”

“That’s a snow leopard.”

“Oh”

“I love how long and floofy the his tail is.”

Tom looks at his tail and realizes she’s right it is long and floofy. 

“Pet him?”

“Sadly no we can’t pet any of them. They are too dangerous to pet.”

“Why?”

“I dunno”

“Oh.”

“Wait... did she just defeat his endless whys?”

“What?”

“Tom is at the stage where he asks why until he gets an answer he’s satisfied with. Did she just defeat his endless whys?”

“I think so”

“Damn she’s good”

Cassie leads Tom around as they walk with the adults in tow. She shows Tom the animals and he studies them and asks her questions about them. Cassie has endless patience with Tom and teaches him as much as she knows. They stop for food and Tom enthusiastically shares with Sheppard all that he’s learned about the animals they have seen so far. Sheppard thanks Cassie for taking on Tom. Cassie smiles. 

“He’s not that bad. Wants to pet all the animals. But he wants to learn about them too.”

“He loves learning. He spends time with the scientists on Atlantis and he learns from them then comes back to me and starts with the technobabble and I’m telling him to slow down because I don’t understand it.”

“Is he really like that?”

“Feel free to ask him anything about physics or botany. He knows different languages too. He speaks Czech with Zelanka all day long. He speaks Gaelic with Beckett. He speaks French, Italian, Russian,”

“Really.”

“He struggles with English the most but he picks up on the other languages like no tomorrow.”

Tom finishes his food and goes to the playground that’s right there next to the restaurant and he starts climbing the rope spiderweb thing they have. Cassie watches him for a minute before going to join him. Tom slips and falls and does some kind of deranged flip before he hits the ground with a hard thud. He knocked the wind out of himself. Cassie goes running over to him.

“Oh my god are you ok?”

“Ok. Minute”

Sheppard and the others watched Tom fall. Janet got to her feet. Sheppard half stood as well. Tom gets up and brushes some of the dirt off. Cassie helps him up. Tom laughs. Cassie looks at him weird.

“Fun.”

“You almost hurt yourself.”

“I ok. Let’s go again.” 

Tom starts climbing the rope again. Sheppard comes and grabs him off.

“Let’s not go again and say we did.”

“I ok.”

“This time. Next time you could end up getting hurt. You could have landed on that rock there and then we’d have to leave to zoo and go to the hospital.”

“Oh.”

“Yea you got lucky once. We aren’t going to test it again.”

“More aminals?”

“Yea let’s go see more animals.”

Cassie leads Tom into a building. Tom looks around confused. Cassie grabs Toms hand.

“Come on I’ll show you the cool creepy crawlers.”

Tom follows Cassie as she leads him to the first cage set into a wall. It’s a glass exhibit and hold a couple of slider turtles. Tom isn’t tall enough to see into the exhibit yet but there is a place he can climb to get a better view. Tom is in awe. 

“Those are turtles Tom. They aren’t the creepy ones yet but they have an exhibit here too. These guys eat lettuce and veggies.”

“They so cute.”

“Yea they are.”

Cassie leads Tom to the next exhibit in the wall and this one is full of roaches. 

“These are the creepy ones.”

Tom makes a face. “Ew”

“Yea you don’t want to see them not in a cage.”

Cassie leads him to the next exhibit. Tom looks around. 

“I no see it.”

“That’s because he’s hiding. You can kind of see him in the back there. He’s green with a darker green stripe.”

Tom looks harder at where Cassie was pointing and spots the lizard. 

“Whoa!”

“You see him”

“Yea!”

“Some animals are really good at hiding.”

“Cool.”

Cassie shows Tom around the room but he keeps looking at the big glass case in the middle of the room. He learns all about the bugs and the lizards and even a couple of snakes. Finally Cassie leads him to the big case in the middle of the room. Tom is in shock. His jaw hits the floor. In the giant glass case there are two giant snakes! 

“Those are reticulated pythons. They can grow to be very big.”

“He could eat me!”

“He could.”

“Whoa.”

“He’s cool huh.”

“Oh yea. Why is they different colors?”

“The dark one is the normal color for these types of snakes they tend to be greens and browns.”

“Why yellow?”

“That one is albino. All animals have this stuff called pigment that is responsible for the color of the skin. An albino doesn’t produce enough pigment and thus they are a different color to the natural color.”

“So he’s yellow because he’s sick?”

“No he’s not sick he’s healthy. He just has a mutation.”

“Oh. That’s cool”

“Damn she’s good.”

“She understands him better then you thought she would.”

“Not only that but she is teaching him stuff I didn’t know.”

“Well you said she likes animals you didn’t lie to him. She likes animals.”

“Let me guess she wants to be a zoo keeper when she grows up?”

“She hasn’t decided her career yet”

“Oh”

Tom watches the pythons for a while.

“They no do nothin”

“Yea they don’t do much. Let’s go see some more animals!”

“Yeah!”

Cassie grabs Toms hand and leads him out the door. Tom follows excitedly. The adults follow watching the kids with their enthusiasm. Tom stops as they run past a building. Cassie stops too. 

“What is?”

“Oh that’s a place to play. There’s no animals in there except for the stuffed kind.”

“We see it?”

“You want to go in? Sure”

Cassie leads the way. Tom follows. Sheppard follows them in while the others find a place to rest. Tom is in shock. There are kids everywhere. There are stuffies on the floor and on hospital beds. The whole place is meant to look like a veterinary clinic. Tom follows Cassie to one of the “beds” and watches her pretend to take care of the stuffed lion? That’s on the bed. Tom picks up some toys and starts to help her.Sheppard watches them. Tom follows Cassie around the room and watches her play before he joins her. 

Tom eventually gets bored and Cassie leads them out of the building. They find the other adults and head to the next exhibit. Tom suddenly takes off running. 

“Tom!!”

“Tommy!”

“Tom come back!”

Cassie runs after him but Tom is too fast. He disappears in the crowd of people. Sheppard starts asking people if they have seen Tom. But nobody seems to know where he is. Tom is gone. They look for security personnel so they can ask for help. Cassie stays with Janet waiting to see if Tom will come back to where he left them. Ten minutes after Tom disappeared he comes back holding something in his hands. Janet calls everyone back. Cassie is curious to see what Tom has. 

Tom is showing Cassie the squirrel he caught by the time the other adults show up. She is explaining to him why catching the squirrel was a bad idea but Tom is proud of his catch. He shows Sheppard and the others too. Sheppard grabs the squirrel out of Toms hands and gives it to Cassie. He grabs Tom and leads him away from the group. Tom is confused and scared. 

“You do not! Wander off like that!”

“I was chasing a squirrel.”

“I don’t care if it was a butterfly! You don’t take off like that! You could have been kidnapped!”

“Huh?”

“Tom we aren’t in Atlantis. Not every person on earth is friendly. Some people have evil in their hearts. I don’t want you to end up being kidnapped.”

“What kidnapped mean?”

“When someone takes you away from me and we never see each other again.”

Tom looks horrified. He hugs Sheppard and refuses to let go. 

“I don’t want to lose you either buddy. That’s why you can’t just take off running like that. Promise me you won’t do it again.”

“Promise.”

“Good. You caught a squirrel? Is it dead?”

“No he lives.”

“Good. You can’t keep him.”

“Awww man”

They return to the group and Tom takes the squirrel back. He shows Sheppard the squirrel and how cute he is. 

“You still can’t keep him.”

“Aww man!”

Cassie laughs. She takes pictures of the squirrel and Tom. 

“There now you have memories of him.”

“How is memories?”

“You have pictures you can look at and remember the time you caught a squirrel.”

“Oh!”

Tom goes and puts the squirrel on the side of a tree and watches the squirrel climb away from him. They head to the next exhibit. Tom learns about wolves from Cassie. Tom compares the look of the wolves to his creature and agrees with Sheppard. They are similar. Except his tail is way longer and the spikes and his sharp teeth.There are younger kids trying to get the wolves to howl but the wolves aren’t paying them any attention. 

“What doing?”

“What? The kids?”

“Yea.”

“Wolves howl. It’s one of the noises they make. Those kids are trying to get the wolves to howl.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s a beautiful sound to hear.”

“Some people say it’s like music.”

“How do?”

“Howl? Just say arooooo”

“Aroooooooooooooo!”

The wolves start to howl in response to Tom. Tom looks at them in awe. They do sound beautiful. Tom watches the wolves for a while. He’s fascinated. 

“I think we found his favorite animal.”

“I think so too.”

“I dunno anymore facts about wolves.”

“That’s ok we can get him a book that he can learn to read about wolves.”

“Cool!”

“Come on Tom let’s go see the next animal.”

Tom follows. He keeps looking back at the wolf exhibit. Cassie leads the way holding Toms hand. The next exhibit is the lions. Tom has all kinds of questions about them. 

“Why only some have the extra fur?”

“The boys have manes.”

“Why?”

“So you can tell which ones are boys and which ones are girls.”

“Oh. Why not the other way round?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why not the girls have manes and the boys don’t?”

“Good question. I dunno”

“Oh.”

“The girls do all the hunting though.”

“The boys is lazy?”

“Yes.”

“Rude. They haves the manes should be the ones huntin.”

“It’s the way they are Tom we can’t change them.”

“Why?”

“I dunno because that’s nature?”

“Oh”

“Yea”’

“How many?”

“How many what?”

“How many lions?”

“In a pride or at the zoo?”

“Yes”

“In a normal pride there can be as many as 40 lions. Most of them are girls. Very few are boys.”

“Why?”

“The boys fight and the girls get along.”

“Oh.”

“In our zoo we have 5 lions. One boy and four girls.”

“Why?”

“I dunno because they don’t have a lot of land?”

“Oh. Territory”

“Yea”

They head to the next exhibit. Tom is having a blast learning about all the animals. Cassie doesn’t mind sharing the information she knows. Tom gets to see hyenas and giraffes and elephants. He needs a bit of help viewing the rhinos because they are on the other side of the exhibit from them. They see polar bears and penguins. Sea lions and otters. The monkey house is loud and full of screaming monkeys.The gators are big and menacing. 

At the end of the day after viewing all the animals and learning as much as he can about all of them. Sheppard and the others lead Tom through the gift shop. Tom is looking around at everything. They have stuffed animals and shirts, necklaces, books, games, toys, and more. Sheppard tells Tom he can have one thing. Tom looks around at everything. He makes sure to keep one of the adults within eyesite at all times. Tom looks at toys and candy. He looks at the stuffies. 

Tom is having trouble deciding but he keeps being drawn to the stuffies. He grabs one looks it over gives it a squeeze then puts it back. The stuffed animals come in different sizes. Some are huge! Others are small enough for Tom to carry one handed. Tom keeps going to the stuffies that would be considered a normal size. Tom grabs a wolf stuffy and gives it a hug. He likes it. But he’s not sure he wants it. He puts the stuffy back. Sheppard watches him for a few minutes. He can see the gears turning in Toms head. Cassie comes over and stands by Sheppard. She watches Tom for a few minutes too. 

“I think he wants that one.”

“I think so too. I think he’s afraid to ask for it though.”

“Why?”

“I dunno. I told him he could buy something.”

Cassie goes over to Tom.

“Hey. Watcha doin?”

“Lookin”

“Lookin for what?”

“Nothin jus lookin”

“Do you want that one?”

“Yea but I dunno”

“You dunno what? You can take him with you.”

“I know. But what I do with him?”

“He’s a toy. You can play with him. You can cuddle with him. You can sleep with him.”

“Oh.”

“Just don’t bring him in the bath. He’s not made for bath time.”

“Oh.”

“Yea then he gets all gross and wet and he takes forever to dry.”

“Oh.”

“I made that mistake with one of my stuffies”

“Oh.”

“I think you should get him.”

“Ok.”

Tom grabs the wolf and brings him over to Sheppard.

“Did you find a toy you like bud?”

“Yea”

  
Sheppard buys Toms wolf and Cassie’s stuffed rhino. They head back to base. Tom plays with his wolf until he falls asleep hugging the wolf to his chest. Cassie starts falling asleep shortly after. Sheppard notices the silence and checks on the sleeping kids. Tom has his thumb in his mouth and the wolf held close. Cassie is using her rhino as a pillow against the car door.

When they got to the base. Everyone took pictures. Tom was out cold with his wolf stuffy hugged close and his thumb in his mouth. He’s so adorable they couldn’t help but take pictures. Cassie tookpictures too. Tom slept through it all. When Sheppard finally grabs him out of the car Tom stirs just long enough to snuggle into Sheppard. More pictures are taken. Sheppard smiles and carries Tom to bed. They had a long day and Tom was all over the place. Sheppard let’s him sleep making sure to tuck him under the covers. The others quietly say their goodbyes and head their separate ways.


End file.
